Butt-adjuster mechanism for grain-binders.



I W. H. CRANE.

BUTT ADJUSTER MECHANISM 08 GRAIN BINDERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, I916.

Patented June 18, 1918.

Patented une 18, 1918.

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Inventor:

W. H. CRANE.

BUTT ADJUSTER MECHANISM FOR GRAIN BlNDERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 1916. v 1 ,270,016, Patented June 18, 1918.

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\VILLIAM H. CRANE, OF POUGHKEEPSIE. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 MOLINE PLOW COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BUTT-ADJUSTER MECHANISM FOR GRAIN-IBINDERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1918.

Application filed June 1, 1916. Serial No. 101,108.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, \VILLIAM H. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutohess and State of New York, have invented certain.

new and'useful Improvements in Butt-Ad juster Mechanism for Grain -Binders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in grain binding machines, and has reference more particularly to the butt adjuster mechanism which operates on the butts of the grain to assist in delivering the grain to the packers and to square up the butts and hold them square while the bundle is being tied.

There are in common use twoforms of butt adjusters, one a vibratory adjuster, and consisting usually of a board supported in an upright position on' the binder deck and vibrated by suitable mechanism so as to act on the butts of the grain; and the other a rotary or traveling adjuster, which consists of an endless traveling conveyer apron supported in upright position on the binder deck and driven by suitable means so that the apron will travel against the grain butts. The vibratory form of butt adjuster is that most commonly employed, but there are certain territories where the traveling formof adjuster is demanded, and in such territories there are seasons when the condition of the grain requires the use also of a vibratory adjuster.

The object of my invention is to meet these difierent conditions encountered in practice and to provide for the use in the same machine of the two different forms of adjusters at will, so that a machine equipped with one form of adjuster may be conveniently and quickly changed to employ the other form of adjuster and vice versa.

With this end in view my invention consists in a form and construction of the machine frame which will permit either form of butt adjuster to be removably mounted therein at will, in combination with a butt adjuster driving element common to both forms of adjusters, and intermediate driving members for transmitting motion from the common driving element to the different forms of adjusters, said intermediate driv-.

ing members being preferably detachable from and attachable at will to the driving element, according to the particular form of butt adjuster which for the time being is to be employed.

My invention consists also in the details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is aside elevation of the upper portion of the binding deck and elevator of a grain binder having my invention embodied therein, and illustrating the machine equipped with a vibratory butt adjuster.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the partsshown in Fig. 1 but with a rotary or traveling butt adjuster substituted.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on an enlarged scale through the upper roll of the traveling adjuster and the driving mechanism therefor, the section being taken on the line a-a of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional plan view on the line bb of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings;

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 which illustrate only such portions of the machine as will be necessary for an understanding of myinvention, 1 indicates the binding deck of the machine and 2 the upper end of the elevator by which the out grain is conveyed from the grain receiving platform (not shown) upwardly and delivered onto the binding deck, these parts being suitably sustained by the machine frame 3, a fragment only of which is illustrated. In Fig. 1 the 6 indicates a butt adjuster driving shaft a which extends along the outer side of the elevator frame at the rear side of the same and which shaft receives its motion through the medium of a bevel gear 10 fixed to the shaft, with which gear 10 meshes a bevel gear on the upper roll of the lowerelevator, the said roll receiving its-drive from a suitable source of power, usually from the ground wheels of the machine in the advance of the same through the field. Near its up per end this shaft is supported for rotation in a lower laterally projecting bracket 7 on an upright plate 8 fixed to the side of the elevator frame, and in an upper laterally projecting bracket 9 on the upper end of said plate, the upper end of the shaft being extended upwardly beyond the bracket as shown more particularly in Fig. 3. The hub of the bevel gear 10 is extended upwardly and formed with a spur pinion 11 by means of which the driving motion of the driving shaft is imparted .to the traveling butt adjuster when the latter is applied, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The upper projecting end of the driving shaft is adapted to receive av driving crank 12 through which the motion of the driving shaft is transmitted to the vibratory butt adjuster when the latter is applied to the machine, this driving crank being detachably connected with the shaft, as by a fastening pin 12" engaged with the crank and shaft, so that the crank may be removed therefrom when the traveling form of butt adjuster is substituted.

On reference to Fig. 1 which shows the machine equipped with the vibratory form of butt adjuster, the driving crank 12 is shown applied to the driving shaft and operatively connected with the vibratory board a of the adjuster by means of a connecting arm 13 fixed at one end to said board and having at its opposite end a depending journal 1% seated loosely in a bearing opening in the end of the crank, the arm thus acting as a driving connection .between the crank and board, and acting to sustain the board in an upright position on the binder deck, the rotation of the crank acting to impart to the board its usual vibratory motions against the butts of the grain. The board i is given support at its lower end by means of a crank arm 15 provided at one end with a crank 15 which is mounted loosely in alined openings in the upper bracket plate 9 and the lower bracket plate 8 respectively, the opposite end of the crank arm being provided with a vertically extending crank 15 having pivoted to it a sleeve 16 in which is slidingly supported a slide 17 fixed to the side of the adjuster board. The cooperation of the slide with the sleeve 16 acts to support the lower end of the board while at the same time it permits of a relative motion between the board and crank arm in the vibratory action of the former. Connected with the crank 15 is an upright shield 18 constituting in effect an extension of the butt adjuster board. A shifter bar 19 has its lower end detachably connected :by means of fastening bolts 19 with an arm '20 fixed to and extending upwardly from the side of the extension 18, which shifter bar extends upwardly to the upper end of the elevator frame 2 where it is provided with a number of notches .21 adapted to be engaged with a tooth 2-2 on the elevator frame, the extremity of the shifter bar being formed with a hanfile 23 by means of which it may be adjusted or shifted endwise. In the endwise shifting of the shifter bar, the extension 18 will be likewise shifted and a corresponding motion will be imparted to the board a by means of the connection of said board with the crank 15 through the medium of the slide 17 on the board and the sleeve 16 on the crank arm; whereby the butt adjuster board may be adjusted to different positions transversely of the binder deck, or in other words in the direction of the length of the grain thereon.

When the traveling form of butt adjuster is to be substituted for the vibratory adjuster, the adjuster bar 19 is disconnected from the arm on the extension 18, the driving crank 12 is detached from the driving shaft 6, and the board 4 and attached parts are removed bodily from the binder deck. The traveling butt adjuster is then applied to the deck so that it will occupy the position shown in Fig. 2.

This traveling adjuster comprises upper and lower frame members having upper and lower lateral fixed studs 24 and 25 projecting therefrom at the upper end of the ad juster, a driving shaft 26 being mounted for rotation in said studs and having fixed to it a roll 27. The shaft extends at its lower end downwardly and beyond the end of the stud 25 and is provided with screw threads on which is screwed a driving pinion 28 which may be unscrewed therefrom and detached at will for the purpose presently to be described. There is a corresponding idler shaft 26 and idler roll 27 at the opposite end of the adjuster as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and around the two rolls passes an endless apron 29 provided as usual with. conveyer cleats, which apron is given a traveling motion by the rotation of the shaft 26.

To adapt a butt adjuster of this form to be applied to the machine and to be driven from the common drive shaft '6, the upper bracket 9 before alluded to is formed with an opening 30 which receives the lower stud 25 when the adjuster is set in position. Adacent this opening the bracket is provided with a second opening 31 in which is removably seated a bolt 32 extending downwardly from the bracket. The bolt is surrounded by a sleeve or bushing 33 which is clamped fixedly to the bolt by means of a nut 34 screwed on the lower end of the bolt, the sleeve thus forming a journal onwh'ich a transmitting pinion 35 is loosely mounted and is detachably con-fined by the said nut. This pinion when thus applied will mesh with and be driven by the pinion 11 before alluded to, and will engage and drive the pinion 28- on the lower, end of the shaft 26 and thus impart motion to the .travehng apron. I

In applying the traveling form of adthreaded end of shaft 26, and while held in this position, the shaft is rotated by turning the rolls and apron, the effect of which will be to screw the pinion on the shaft. A bracket arm 36 containing a bearing opening therein, is applied to theupper end of the elevator frame 2 and the bearing opening passed over the upper stud 24' of the butt adjuster and the arm confined detachably in place by means of the bolts 37 passing therethrough and into the elevator frame. The

lower end of a. shifter bar 19 is then fastened by means of the bolts 19* before alluded to, to an arm 88 depending from a bracket plate 39 fixed to the upper frame bar of the ad: juster device, whereby connection, ismade between the shifter bar and the butt adjusterfor shifting the latter and adjusting it. to different positions transversely of the binder deck. The parts are now in-such operative relations that the rotation of the driving shaft 6 will through the medium of the train of gearing consisting of thepinion 11, transmitting gear 35 and pinion 28,, rotate the roll 29 and impart to the apron a traveling motion.

form of adjuster, the shifter bar 19 is disconnected, the bracket 36 removed, the pinion 2S unscrewed, the transmitting pinion being either removed or left in place, and the ad j uster device lifted bodily from the deck. The other form of butt adjuster is then set in position over the binder deck, the crank 15 of the crank arm inserted in the bearing openings in the two brackets, and the driving crank 19 applied to the upper end of the driving shaft, the parts being thus in such operative relations that the rotation of the driving shaft will impart to the vibratory board its vibratory motion.

As a result of the construction described, the change from one form of butt adjuster to another may be conveniently and quickly effected, there being but few parts to be detached or changed when one form of the device is removed and the other form substituted.

A farmer, therefore, by being furnished with the two forms of butt adjusters and their respective associated parts, is enabled to use in the same machine either form of adjuster according to the conditions encountered. 'The change from one form to the other may be speedily made and with little inconvenience.

A. further advantage of the interchangeability of the parts is the convenience and economy in the shop in the manufacture of the parts, the entire machine frame and the primary driving devices being the same for both kinds of adjusters, the only change necessary beingin respect to the removable crank shaft for driving the vibratory adjuster, and the pinions by which'the rotary adjuster is driven from the drive shaft. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a grain binder, the combination of a frame, a butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable at will by a butt adjuster of .difierenttype, a driving shaft,'and operative connections between the shaft and the first mentioned buttadjuster, said connections being formed to be broken to permit the removal of the first mentioned butt adjuster, and means whereby'the driving shaft may be operatively connected with a butt adjuster ofidifferent type when the latter is substituted for the other.

2. Ina grain binder, the combination of a frame, a traveling butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable at will by a vibratory butt adjusted, a butt adjuster driving shaft," operative connections between the said shaft and the traveling butt adjuster, said connections being formed to be broken to permit the removalof the traveling butt adjuster, and meanswhereby said shaft may be operatively connected to a vibratory butt 7 adjuster when the latter is substituted for In changmg back again to the vibratory the other.

3. In a grain binder,'the combination of a frame constructed to support interchangeably either a vibratory butt adjuster or a traveling butt adjuster, and a driving member mounted in the frame and having provision for operative connection alternately with either form of butt adjuster according to the particular one for the time being in use.

4. In a grain binder, the combination of a frame, a butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable at will by a butt adjuster of a different type, a butt adjuster driving member mounted in the frame and opera tively connected with the first mentioned butt adjuster to operate the same, and means for operatively connecting said driving member with the second mentioned butt adjuiter when the latter is substituted for the ot er.

5. In a grain binder, the combination of a frame, a traveling butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable at will by a vibratory butt adjuster, a butt adjuster. driving member mounted in the frame and operatively connected with the traveling butt :ad-

juster when the latter is substituted :for the other.

77. in agrain binder, the combination of a frame, a traveling butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable at will :by a vibratory butt adjuster, a butt adjuster driving shaft mounted in the frame, .a pinionon said shaft geared to the traveling butt adjuster atO operate the same, and means for operatively connecting .the driving shaft with the vibratory oibutt adjuster when the latter :is substituted for the "other.

8. In ;a grain binder, the combination of :a frame, a vibratory butt adjuster supported thereby and replaceable .at will by a-traveling butt adjuster, .a butt adjuster driving shaft mounted in the frame, .a crankshaft detachably connected xviththeidriving shaft and operativelytcormected with. the vibratory buttadjuster, :and a pinion on said shaft in position to be operatively "geared with a traveling butt adjuster when the latter is substituted for the other.

:9. YInea grain binder, the combination nf a frame, an arm :detachably connected with the frame and provided with a bearing, a traveling abutt adjuster sustained by the frame and having itsupper roll journaled in said arm, said traveling butt adjuster being replaceable at Will by a vibratory buttiadjuster, a butt adjuster driving member mounted inthe frame andoperatively connected with said roll for operating the same, and means for operatively connecting the driving memher With the vibratory butt adjuster when the latter is substituted for theother.

1.0. In a grain binder, thecombinationof a frame constructed to support interchange ably either -.a vibratory butt adjuster or a traveling butt adjuster at will, and a butt adjuster shifting device sustained by the frame and constructed to be detac'hably connected alternately to either form of butt adjuster according to :the particular one for the time "being inuse to shift the same.

'11. In a grain binder, the'combination of a frame a vibratorybutt adjuster supported thereby rand replaceable at will by a traveling butt adjuster, and a butt adjuster shift iugidevice sustained Iby the frame and detaohably connected with the vibratory butt adjuster for shifting it,sai-d device beingattaehable at will to a travelingbutt-adjuster when the latter is substituted for :theother.

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature in presence of "two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. CRANE.

Witnesses:

WM. J. MERKLE, K. S. SOHLOSSER,

Copies iofihisr tent may he .ohtainedtor jive-rents each, by addressing the Gominissioner o1 Patantl, Weslungton,lllr(3. 

